The long-awaited sewer system in Koontz Lake was put into operation with a connection of three homes on Monday, March 5th.
“At our February meeting, we made a determination that the system was at a stage of substantial completion,” said Koontz Lake Regional Sewer District President, Paul Warnke. “This allowed us to begin connection to households and businesses. On Monday, March 5th, we had the first three homes officially connected to the system with full functionality and we then had ceremonial toilet flushes.”
We asked if everything went as expected.
“Everything is a go so far. The system has been pressure tested and verified for leaks. We have gone through the procedures for the clean water plant. So we’re very much ready to roll here.”
There are now 938 connections to go, which will take up to six months to complete. Wightman Petrie, Inc., of Elkhart, is the District’s Engineering Consultants and they are handling the permit and inspection process. An office trailer has been located at the Marathon Food Mart on State Road 23 in Koontz Lake. The Inspector will be available for permits and discussions during the hours of 8:00-10:00 a.m. CT each weekday. He will be inspecting connections the balance of each day.
Residents and business owners are mandated to hook up with their cost consisting of running the connections from their property to the sewer main.
The district received a grant to help defray the cost. Warnke talked about the monthly cost to the homeowner.
“As sewer systems go, we are one of the lowest priced in the state,” Warnke said.
The sewer system is expected to open the Koontz Lake area up for growth in the future.
